Monday, September 28, 2015

I do not know when fall officially starts, but for me when I
pulled in my driveway the other day and I was met with the wonderful smell of
the sweet tea olive, fall had started. Nothing is like the smell of the sweet
tea olive in the Lowcountry in the fall, except maybe shrimp bait balls. Football
is taking up most of the week, NASCAR is going full speed, the three Possum
stores are filling up with ryegrass, deer season is underway, the Charleston
Battery are in the playoffs, and the cool mornings. The cooler temperatures
make yard work much easier; however, mosquitoes are trying to ruin the fun.

Your fall applications of preemergent weed control should be
in the ground and protecting your lawn and beds against weeds. If you have not
applied a preemergent product, go ahead and use one now. You might have missed
a few weeds, but many more will germinate before the winter is over.

Thirty days after you have applied any fertilizer product is
a good time to take soil test and prepare for 2016. Usually your beds are cared
for differently than your turf grass areas, so consider taking a sample in both
areas. If you call Possum’s (to find a store near you look at www.possumsupply.com), they can walk you
through the proper steps to take a proper soil test for your lawn and beds.

Okay, I waited until the fourth paragraph. I didn’t walk my
dog for two days because of rain, and when I did, I noticed most of my
neighbors either had army worms or Large patch / Brown patch. I then took some
side streets through other areas throughout the Lowcountry and realized that
these two pest – one a fungus and one an insect have us under siege.

Brown Patch/ Large
patch fungus is very active right now. As your grass goes to sleep, this fungus
attacks the crown of the plant. The crown of the plant is where the roots go
one way and the leaf blades go the other way. Hold off on watering as much as
you can.

Brown Patch/ Large
Patch is a soil bourne fungus; therefore, usually shows up in the same areas in
the spring and fall. These areas are usually wet, thatch, or poorly drained
areas.

Using a fungicide is always best if you can apply it
preventatively (before the disease is active). There are many good systemic
fungicides available on the market today, just be sure to rotate chemistries.
Disarm, Cleary’s 3336 and Prophesy are a few of the better ones to rotate. Plan
on more than one application.

With army worms and sod webworms also plan on more than one
application. Cyonara, Bug Blasters, and for a change of chemical class, Sevin
are good products to rotate. I have had to treat my yard one time this year,
and I have treated my mother’s yard three times and it looks like it needs a
fourth treatment. I get about 10 to 14 days control at her house.

With Halloween approaching, remember to control fire ants in
your yard. Fire ants can be deadly, and you would not want to ruin a little
ghost or witches night. Do kids still dress up as ghosts and witches? Also
clean up any other potential hazards and control the mosquitoes.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Brown Patch Fungus is in the attack mode. The shorter days,
moisture and finally the cooler weather has given this fungus all the
conditions it likes to destroy the yard you worked hard on all summer. Disarm
the fungus with Disarm fungicide!

Scout your yard for sod webworms and army worms. It is
amazing with 3 stores (Possum’s) the stories you hear from lawn care people and
homeowners about these worms. They can eat so much so fast it is amazing.
Whether it is the professional or the DIY homeowner that has worked hard all
summer to grow a uniform stand of turf, the sod webworm just doesn’t seem to
care.

To scout for this varmint, look for scalped grass that has
bite marks on the leaf blade. Moths flying around in a zigzag pattern in and
out of the turf at dust is also a dead giveaway.

Scale, aphids, and lace bugs are still out there sucking the
life out of you plants. Evergreens you could use a drench product like
Dominion. If your plant or tree is losing leaves for the winter, horticultural
oil might be a better choice, depending on the infestation.

Winterizing your turf and shrubs should also be considered.
No one likes to go to sleep hungry! Possum Minors, 00-00-25 Sulfate of Potash +
minors, SeaHume, Cotton Burr Compost and / or Excell are a few excellent
options. Watch out for the national marketing campaigns that promote products
that were not designed to be used in this area.

I’m sure you have put out one round of preemergent herbicide
by now for winter weed control in your beds and turf. If not, better late than
never. Weed seeds germinate pretty much year round here.

If you are changing out flowers in containers or hanging
baskets, consider incorporating HydroStretch or Hort-a-Sorb. These products
help manage water and your plants will not dry out so fast.

Fire Ants are out in big numbers after all the rain we had
earlier this year. One bait product that works very good and is very reasonably
price is Extinguish Plus. This product has a growth regulator in it and usually
keeps ants out of an area for 6 months. Bait products or contact killers
usually work best if spread over the whole yard.

I was working on an order of rat and mice control products
last week and I mean to tell you, people of the Lowcountry, we have rodents!
Rodents like to come inside this time of year.

Bill Lamson-Scribner
can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply.
Possum’s has three locations 481
Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant
(971-9601), 3325 Business Circle
in North Charleston
(760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd,
in Charleston
(766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at
http://www.possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “ The
Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from noon to 1:00, on 1250 WTMA(The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is
available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com.

Monday, September 14, 2015

With all of the heavy rains, Large Patch/Brown Patch is
really giving our Lowcountry grasses a hard time!The cooler nights, lower daylight hours, and
these rains have created an environment favorable for the spread of this
disease.Hopefully, you are all saving
some money and have turned off your irrigation because we have had at least an
inch of rain for each of the last three weeks.

If you have discolored grass this time of year, it could be Large
Patch, or I am still seeing plenty of worm (fall army worm, sod web worm)
activity.You must identify what pest
you have because worms are an insect which needs insecticides and Large Patch
is a fungus which requires a fungicide to eradicate.

Where you have Large Patch, there is a dead area in the center
that is outlined by yellow grass.If you
pull on the dead grass or the yellow grass, it will come up very easily from
the runner.At the bottom of the leaf
blade you just pulled up, you will see a dark discolored area.Large Patch is a soil borne fungus that
attacks the grass at the crown of the plant.The crown of the plant is the areas where the leaf blades go up and the
roots go down.In the dead area, you can
rake up the dead blades of grass with your fingers.

If worms are munching on your turf, the discolored areas
will have half eaten leaf blades.If you
see an area in your lawn that looks like it has been mowed, but you haven’t
mowed in awhile, that could be an area where worms have been feeding.You can also see the worms or their fecal
pellets in the bad grass that borders the good grass.

Moths are very evident in lawns that have worms. If you walk
around your yard at dusk and see moths fly up out of your lawn, there is a very
good chance you have worms on the way. Moths lay eggs. The eggs turn into the
worm that eats your grass. The worms then turn into moths and the cycle
continues. Moths will also hang out in flower beds. They especially seem to
like Liriope (monkey grass).

Large Patch reappears in the same place every year which
makes it easy to control.Large Patch
likes compacted, thatchy, wet and poorly drained areas.Large Patch also likes yards where people run
irrigation all the time regardless of rain.If you can manage these cultural issues through aeration, de-thatching
and correcting drainage, you should notice a decrease of the fungus in your
yard.

Serenade is an organic fungicide that you can use to control
Large Patch.Applying Natures Blend,
Crab Shell and SeaHume in these areas will increase the bio-diversity and
relieve compaction.Many of our
customers have noticed a great reduction in Large Patch in the areas where they
applied Natures Blend, Crab Shell and SeaHume.Cleary’s and Disarm products systemically move into the plants and
protect them from disease.

For fungi it is best to treat before your grass gets the
disease. Like the way people get a flu shot, before they get the flu.
Fungicides will help afterwards to prevent further damage; however, the dead
grass will not come back to life.

Sevin is a great product to control worms.Not only will it kill the worms, but it will
also kill other things in the soil that moles feed on. Bifen or Bug Blaster
will work too. If you would rather go organic, Thuricide is a Bt product that
will help kill the worms.Applications
every 2 weeks is not uncommon.

About Me

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at http://www.possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to
“ The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from noon to 1:00, on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker).